For Nikšić, 'Spengavanje' is a harmless affair, and the court twice established grounds for suspicion that Munjić and others committed criminal offenses

By: Amra Vrabac

The Special Department of the Supreme Court of FBiH has twice imposed prohibitive measures on the suspects in the "Spengavanje" affair, Vahidin Munjić, Muhamed Ohranović, Ervin Mušinović, and Arijana Huseinović-Ajanović, thereby confirming the grounds for suspicion that the suspects committed several corrupt criminal offenses such as Abuse of Official Position or Authority from Article 383 of the Criminal Code of FBiH and others.

The court first imposed prohibitive measures on November 14, and after the appeal of the suspects' lawyers was accepted, the Supreme Court of FBiH decided again and imposed prohibitive measures, specifically prohibiting certain business activities or official duties.

In relation to Munjić, Ohranović, and Mušinović, a measure prohibiting them from visiting certain places or areas was also imposed, namely a prohibition from visiting and approaching all official premises of the Federal Police Administration, official premises of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs of FBiH, all within a distance of less than 100m.

The head of Nermin Nikšić's cabinet is prohibited from visiting and approaching all official premises of the Government of FBiH, within a distance of less than 100m.

They are also prohibited from meeting with ten individuals, including the Prime Minister of FBiH, Nermin Nikšić. The court specifically warned the suspects that detention could be imposed if they violate the prohibitive measures.

And while the court established grounds for suspicion based on the evidence provided by the POSKOK unit of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, namely the correspondence from Vahidin Munjić's mobile phone exchanged with other suspects, as well as with other individuals, some still call the entire case fabricated, and instead of calling for an effective investigation, they want to direct the investigation towards those who made these correspondences public.

Given that the first messages were published by journalist Avdo Avdić, both on the Istraga.ba portal and in the program Istraga sedmice on Hayat TV, it is evident that some officeholders, primarily from the SDP, have the task of diverting the story towards Avdić instead of towards those who have clearly abused their positions for criminal offenses.

Just two days after Avdić published the correspondence from Vahidin Munjić's phone, the Federal Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić, as a guest on the show 'Jutro za sve' with Zvonko Komšić on BHRT, admitted the authenticity of the messages he sent to Vahidin Munjić. From this temporal distance, Nikšić's appearance on that show was scandalous for several reasons. First, due to his inappropriate and aggressive attitude towards Komšić, whom he accused of speaking on behalf of the opposition, even though he was just doing his job, and then also because of the admission itself that he did send messages to the head of the federal police and that he would continue to do so regardless of who the director of the FUP is.

In the same show, Nikšić confirmed that his chief of staff has his full trust and that she handled acts and decisions and processes on his behalf.

However, Nikšić did not stop there. He called this affair "the most harmless" compared to the affairs and setups he has, as he said, already survived.

The messages that Avdić continued to publish, which prosecutor Aida Bešlija had for months, and the increasing public pressure ultimately led to a reaction from POSKOK, which carried out searches, seized Munjić's and other suspects' phones again, and proposed prohibitive measures.

The subsequent messages actually reveal a larger group of individuals who traded influence, sought and provided certain services, violated the secrecy of police proceedings, revealed police operations...

Aware that the "Spengavanje" affair had resonated with the public and that citizens had begun to criticize the federal government more openly, the ruling structure began with the tactic that attack is the best defense.

And while more and more scandalous messages in which the federal prime minister himself is involved are released every week, the story is being attempted to be directed towards the judiciary and the so-called jeopardizing of the investigation because the messages were publicly released.

It is interesting that the actors of the affair do not ask what POSKOK was doing for six months, given that they had the messages, which raises the question of whether the Government of FBiH, in addition to being the financier, is also the silent owner of this new judicial institution. Because how else to explain the fact that the main actor of this story, Nermin Nikšić, does not have the status of a suspect and why he is convinced that it will remain so.

Nikšić, as a law graduate, should know that investigations and guilt are investigated and proven by prosecutor's offices and courts, not by the federal prime minister and directors of institutions appointed by his government.

When asked if he asked for someone to be "spengovan" (a colloquial term implying arrest or taking action), Nikšić unreservedly confirmed that he did.

"That someone be arrested, brother, for whom we have determined that they committed a crime," Nikšić said on October 21.

And by that crime, he meant the case of the previous management of Autoceste FBiH, which still has no judicial epilogue. However, Nikšić has clearly already passed judgment, so he has no right to be angry at citizens who, based on his confirmation of the authenticity of the messages, demand that the law be applied equally to all citizens.

Nikšić's claim that the Federal Police Administration reports to the Government of FBiH and that he has the right to communicate with the police director is not supported by law. The FUP is obliged to submit a work report to the Independent Board of the FBiH Parliament, which further communicates with the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the competent minister further communicates with the Government. However, Nikšić simplified and adapted the law to his needs and decided on direct communication with Munjić. The federal Minister of Internal Affairs, Ramo Isak, did the same, refusing to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Munjić based on the decision of the Independent Board.

The epilogue of the communication between the prime minister and the director of the FUP is not a fight against crime and corruption, as Nikšić has been repeating for months, but a fight for positions, as evidenced by the appointments of individuals close to the suspects, which is within the competence of the Government of FBiH.

Although the published messages have attracted great attention from the public, the opposition, and even some officials from coalition parties who could not justify ordering arrests in any way, we cannot escape the impression that the reaction of international missions, embassies, and those who swear by the fight against crime and corruption has been lacking. Perhaps that fight only lasted until the end of April 2023.

The silence of all relevant organizations on the fact that there is no body or institution at the level of the Federation of BiH that deals with the determination and sanctioning of conflicts of interest, while such bodies exist at the level of Canton Sarajevo or the state level, shows that this is the case.